Shaquille O'Neal poured in 30 points and Eddie Jones hit five
three-pointers and added 26 as the Los Angeles Lakers extended
their winning streak to six games with a 113-102 victory over
the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Kobe Bryant scored 14 points and Mario Bennett collected 12
points and 13 boards for the Lakers, who climbed within one game
of first-place Seattle in the Pacific Division with six games
left. Los Angeles improved to 22-2 against Midwest Division
teams this season.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 26 points for the Grizzlies, who fell
to 0-12 all-time against the Lakers. Center Bryant Reeves had
six points before suffering a sprained right knee with 13
seconds left in the first half that forced him to miss the rest
of the game.

Vancouver has lost seven of its last eight games and 22 of 25.

"He's not somebody that we need out right now, especially the
way he was playing," Vancouver coach Brian Hill said of Reeves.
"We're trying to finish up on a positive note and if he can't
play I guess we'll have to do the best we can."

The Grizzlies led by three points after one quarter and had
their last lead at 30-29 after Antonio Daniels' basket with
10:20 remaining in the second. But O'Neal had the first two
buckets of a 12-4 burst that Corie Blount capped with a dunk,
giving the Lakers a 41-34 lead with 5:29 left in the half.

Blue Edwards answered with a jumper to cut the deficit to five
points before Derek Fisher tipped in a miss, Jones sank one free
throw and Bryant made three fouls shots to extend Los Angeles'
lead to 47-36 with 3:43 to go in the period.

"We played well enough to win the game and we had some spurts
where we were really good," Los Angeles coach Del Harris said.
"But the Grizzlies hung in there really well, they've got
scoring power. That's what separates them from a lot of teams
that are down in the standings like that. This team can score."

Vancouver managed to close within six points at halftime and was
down only 64-57 after Abdur-Rahim's dunk with 8:49 left in the
third quarter. But Jones opened and closed a 13-6 surge as Los
Angeles built a 76-61 bulge with 5:39 remaining in the period.
Jones had eight points in the period as the Lakers brought an
87-76 lead into the final quarter.

"Every night we're not going to shoot the ball great, it just so
happened that I did tonight," said Jones, who was 5-of-6 from
three-point range. "I had a lot of open looks tonight. We had
a lot of open looks and we missed a lot of shots early on. We
knew it had to change at some point. It just so happened that
it changed for me."

Bobby Hurley opened the fourth with a jumper as the Grizzlies
closed within single digits for the final time. But it was all
Lakers from there, as Jones buried another three-pointer to
spark a 10-2 burst. O'Neal had a pair of buckets in the middle
of the run before Jones capped it with a three-pointer for a
97-80 advantage with 8:33 to go.

The lead grew as large as 18 points on Bryant's three-pointer
with 7:14 to play. Vancouver crept within 10 on a pair of
occasions, the final time with 2:56 left on Tony Massenburg's
layup. But O'Neal had a pair of buckets in the next minute as
Los Angeles re-opened a 16-point lead.

"When your key guy (Reeves) is missing, somebody else has to
step up, but we're so used to playing with him and playing off
of him that it's difficult," Edwards said. "But I thought we
kept fighting, every time we got close we gave up and open
three."

Blount finished with six points and a career-high 15 rebounds
for the Lakers, who shot 49 percent (43-of-88) from the field
and held a 53-45 rebounding advantage.

Edwards had 20 points and Massenburg contributed 13 points and
10 boards for the Grizzlies, who shot 44 percent (39-of-88).